Wild one: Cubs draw 6 bases-loaded walks in 5th
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PITTSBURGH — The
Kyle Nicolas came on, struck out two batters and hit Ian Happ with a pitch. Then it got much worse.
Nicolas threw 12 straight pitches outside the strike zone to Nico Hoerner, Michael Busch and Miles Mastrobuoni to bring in three runs.
Then Josh Fleming came in and walked Yan Gomes on five pitches before giving up an infield single to Mike Tauchman.
After a 2-hour, 20-minute rain delay, Fleming was pulled for Colin Holderman, who walked Seiya Suzuki on four pitches and Cody Bellinger on five to give Chicago, which trailed 6-1 entering the frame, an 8-6 lead. Holderman retired pinch hitter Nick Madrigal on a liner to end the inning.
The six walks overall tied the Cubs’ most in a single inning over the past 50 seasons. The Pirates threw 55 pitches in the frame — 20 for strikes.
Pittsburgh retook the lead with three runs in the bottom half of the fifth, courtesy of a Yasmani Grandal home run, and held on to win 10-9.
Information from Elias Sports Bureau and The Associated Press was used in this report.
